Chunky Move 4/4 (Southbank Centre)

[Silke H]

This afternoon I went to see Australian company Chunky Move 4/4 at Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre and I didn't really know what to expect.  All I had to go by was a little clip and short description on their website - I'm glad I booked it and went.

When the audience was allowed into the auditorium 5 minutes before performance start time there was already one dancer sitting on stage, slowly stretching.  Whilst the audience took their seats more dancers very slow-movingly entered the stage space. The sound playing was kind of the fuzzy sound one hears when trying to find and tune into a radio station (I am giving away my age here).

The 8 Dancers (4 female, 4 male) were all clad in black, always 2 of them in the same outfit/style.  When the auditorium doors closed and the show proper started there were always sets of 2 dancers (dressed the same) performing the same moves, which meant that there were 4 different choreographies going on at the same time.  It wasn't music but rhythmic pops and beeps, somewhat reminding me of the sounds Wayne McGregor makes when choreographing.  Despite there being 4 different choreographies going on to the soundscape they all worked perfectly with those pops, beeps, clicks, just like Valentino Zucchetti's choreography uses the main music theme as well as the underlying melody and tunes.

It was mesmerising and I wished I had 4 sets of eyes to fully take everything in properly.  The choreography was contemporary with I believe elements of krump, body popping and hip hop.  The props were 4 platforms on wheels, and later on 2 black boxes, the platforms got used and moved around and incorporated into the choreography by the dancers so seamlessly that they almost felt like part of the ensemble.

The duos temporarily become quartets and then divide into duos again, albeit occasionally different than the initial duos.

This show is what I think KOH constantly tries and fails to achieve by using what I think are second rate contemporary/modern dance choreographers making pieces on classical ballet trained superb dancers.  This is no shade at all on the RB dancers but criticism on KOH's futile attempts to bring in an audience to the ROH that would be better served by watching other companies with dancers whose training and background supports such movements brilliantly.

I would recommend BCF members to go and see Chunky Move 4/4 but they only did 3 shows in London and are now on their way to Brussels.  So, if you find yourself in any of the European cities their tour is taking them over the next month or so I'd suggest to get a ticket and be fascinated for an hour.

 

[alison]

Thanks, Silke.  I'd meant to post that this was on in the News forum, but never had access to a computer to be able to copy and paste.

[Silke H]

5 minutes ago, alison said:

Thanks, Silke.  I'd meant to post that this was on in the News forum, but never had access to a computer to be able to copy and paste.

Apologies. If there was a review thread already please feel free to move this there.  I guess I didn't look properly as I didn't see that.

[alison]

No, don't worry, there wasn't.  I saw information about the performances sometime in the middle of the week, but was on my phone at the time and unable to copy the details over to the forum.

[Scheherezade]

On 09/11/2024 at 21:44, alison said:

Thanks, Silke.  I'd meant to post that this was on in the News forum, but never had access to a computer to be able to copy and paste.

 

I probably wouldn't have gone even if you had known that it was on, but after reading Silke's review, rather wished I had.